Sony Xperia Z Ultra morphs into Wi-Fi-only tablet

When is a phone not a phone?

Updated: A Sony spokesperson has told TechRadar that there are currently "no plans to make this available outside of Japan". Sorry folks.

Original story below...

Just as we'd finally come to terms with the idea of phablets, Sony's mixing things up even more by launching a "tablet" version of its large Xperia Z Ultra.

What does that mean? Simply, it's just a Wi-Fi version of the handset, but Sony is acknowledging this version of the super-sized phone as a tablet in the press release before you start the "is it or isn't it?" arguments.

The Wi-Fi version appeared in a leak on Sony's website earlier in the week but the announcement is now official, however the handset is only available in Japan for the time being.

Pha... tabulous?

The specs of the handset are exactly the same - 6.4-inch 1080p display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor and 2GB of RAM. It's still as waterproof as ever, too.

But coming in at around $499, £300, AU$560 it's a fair bit dearer than rivals such as the Nexus 7.

We asked Sony whether we might see this handset break out of Japan but it declined to comment. It wouldn't surprise us if we see this one closer to home in the near future, and hopefully with a more attractive price tag.